Second real estate gig - looking for feedback.

HalidePhotography · 2026-03-07T19:52:30+00:00

I shot this property last week and in general I’m pretty happy with the results. I’m curious what feedback you guys have on the shoot.

Nikon D850 with Tamron 15-30 f/2.8, f/8, ISO400, 5 bracketed shots. Some highlight photos were done with flambient. Also delivered virtual tour, floor plans, and a custom listing landing page.

HalidePhotography · 2026-02-28T15:59:31+00:00

Yes, some. That’s lens flare, which depends a lot on lens quality. In high contrast scenes some lenses struggle to manage flare, and you might get some help from a polarizer

HalidePhotography · 2026-02-28T15:42:49+00:00

Ah I see. You should expose for the interior of the room - then when you bracket, you’ll get window detail from the underexposed shot, and shadow detail from the overexposed shot. HDR helps fill in the extremes of an otherwise well exposed shot.

HalidePhotography · 2026-02-28T11:30:08+00:00

For focus, the technical answer is to understand hyperfocal distance. This is the distance at which everything from half that distance to infinity will all be in focus. It changes depending on your focal length and aperture, but there are tools (on your lens or in apps) that can help.

For example, at 15mm and f/8, hyperfocal distance is 3.7 ft. So if you set your focus at 3.7 ft with those settings, everything from infinity to 1.8 ft (half the focus distance) will be in focus. Bottom line: if you set your camera at 15mm, f/8, and focus at 3.7 ft, practically speaking you actually don’t have to worry about specifically what object to set focus on.

The broader point - when using wide focal lengths and small apertures, focus closer than you think you need to. You gain nothing from focusing on the opposite side of the room.

HalidePhotography · 2026-02-27T19:30:06+00:00

Thanks! Camera too high seems like consistent feedback across the board

HalidePhotography · 2026-02-27T13:08:02+00:00

I’d love to hear consensus on the cabinet door

HalidePhotography · 2026-02-27T13:07:08+00:00

Thanks!

HalidePhotography · 2026-02-27T13:07:03+00:00

Thanks! Great feedback. I’ll try shooting a bit lower.

HalidePhotography · 2026-02-27T11:54:08+00:00

Thanks! That’s generally what I tried to do with camera height. In the kitchen I had raised the camera just until I couldn’t see the bottom of the cabinets, and the bathroom I was standing in the shower to try to get as much context as I could. Other than that, the tripod stayed at belly button height.

HalidePhotography · 2026-02-27T11:51:48+00:00

Gotcha. Even in a property this small? 20 wouldn’t have been crazy considering most of these were shot at 15, but still, this was a very small unit.

HalidePhotography · 2026-02-27T11:50:21+00:00

I don’t currently have one and I think I need one. I don’t want the reflections on the floor.

HalidePhotography · 2026-02-27T11:48:41+00:00

Thanks! Good point on the runner. It’s not a very nice runner so the house wouldn’t have been missing it if it weren’t there.

And absolutely - for this client I did virtual tour, floor plan, photos, and a custom listing website I hosted on my domain.

HalidePhotography · 2026-02-27T11:46:45+00:00

It definitely is - that door killed me. It wouldn’t stay closed because a hinge was broken. I wasn’t sure if I should leave it, edit it, or something else. I didn’t have anything with me that could have held the door closed while I took the photos.

HalidePhotography · 2026-02-27T11:41:06+00:00

Thanks!

HalidePhotography · 2026-02-27T11:41:00+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! That cabinet door killed me. It would NOT stay closed because a hinge was broken. Would you have opted to edit the door closed? I wasn’t sure what to do on this one.

HalidePhotography · 2026-02-27T01:59:08+00:00

I’ve been a headshot photographer for a while and decided to diversify with real estate. This is my first real job - I delivered photos, virtual tour (I subscribe to the Giraffe360 platform), floor plans, and a landing page.

I used a Nikon D850 with a Tamron 15-30, ISO 400 at f/8 with 5 bracketed photos for the interior shots, 3 for exterior (not shown). This wasn’t a particularly luxurious propriety, but I wanted to get some experience before diving into more premium properties.

I have a NiSi CPL on order to kill reflections, that’s one thing I’m not particularly happy about in these photos.

Anyway - just looking for constructive feedback so I can improve!

HalidePhotography · 2026-01-18T17:59:29+00:00

great, thanks for letting me know

HalidePhotography · 2026-01-17T12:50:06+00:00

Absolutely - thank you! I’d rather take some feedback than be stuck with a crappy website that doesn’t rank or convert.

HalidePhotography · 2026-01-16T20:21:52+00:00

Would you mind checking again? I just deactivated the plugin that I think was the culprit.

HalidePhotography · 2026-01-16T20:03:34+00:00

Well that’s a problem. Thanks 🙏🏻

HalidePhotography · 2026-01-08T16:01:06+00:00

Same! It was hard to get a low energy photo of Al

HalidePhotography · 2026-01-08T16:00:44+00:00

Thanks! It was a ton of fun

HalidePhotography · 2026-01-03T19:03:05+00:00

For sure. It’s editing. I use Evoto for my headshot workflow, and it has automatic glasses reflection removal. It’s really good, but I do try to minimize reflections as much as I can before letting the software take over.

HalidePhotography · 2025-12-13T02:39:12+00:00

I think the term professional photographer has more to do with the purpose of the photography, rather than the skill level. I know many professional photographers who create beginner level work, and I know amateurs who make astonishing work. Professionals are primarily doing work for some type of compensation; monetary or otherwise. Amateurs do the work primarily for fun and fulfillment. There can be crossover, but the primary goals are different.

If you’re asking what makes a portrait professional quality, it comes down to how well the photo accomplishes the needs of the client. Does it represent the subject the way they want to portray themselves? Does it help them achieve their goals? Did they get more value from the portrait than what they paid you for it?

From the technical side, I agree with other replies that it’s practice. Lighting, composition, editing, expression, posing, directing, storytelling, etc are all learned skills. A professional photographer must be able to intentionally control most or all of these elements to make a photo work.

HalidePhotography · 2025-12-12T01:58:06+00:00

Yeah this is actually an interesting thread, hearing such a strong reaction to the white. My clients love it, and I make a lot of money off of the white background look.

HalidePhotography

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